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Iran's Defiance

Business Day (Johannesburg)
EDITORIAL
February 28, 2007
Posted to the web February 28, 2007
Johannesburg
MEMBERS of the United Nations (UN) Security Council find themselves at a
crossroads over what to do about Iran's nuclear programme.
This comes as Iran failed to meet a deadline imposed by a UN Security Council
resolution for the country to suspend uranium enrichment.
Under the resolution, passed in December, Iran was threatened with further
sanctions should it fail to meet the deadline. In defiance, Iran announced it
would continue with the programme.
The five permanent members of the security council - the U.S., UK, France,
Russia and China - are now pondering their next move. The U.S. and Europeans
are trying to get Russia and China to agree to travel bans on Iranians involved
in the country's nuclear and missile programmes. Further, Washington and London
would like to see tougher measures like a cut in export credits and an arms
embargo.
But Russia and China and much of the rest of the world are suspicious about US
motives, fearing that an attack on Iran may be imminent. They have reason to
fear, given that the US ratcheted up the pressure this week by sending a second
aircraft carrier to the Gulf.
Direct talks between the US and Iran on a range of issues, including the
nuclear stand-off, could potentially help defuse the crisis. With such a move
unlikely, however, the security council needs to show resolve and find a way of
dealing with the stand-off.
It is also decision time for SA. The question for Pretoria is whether it is
prepared to continue to believe the Iranian rhetoric that its nuclear programme
is purely for peaceful purposes and to be its international defender. At the
weekend, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, held talks with
President Thabo Mbeki. It is unclear what the line was, but SA has a key role
to play to bring sanity back to an issue that is fast spiralling out of
control. A political and diplomatic solution is now urgently required.


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